Castelgandolfo, Italy - Pope Benedict on Sunday prayed for victims, rescue workers and others affected by two powerful hurricanes that slammed into the United States Gulf Coast in less than a month.

"Our thoughts go especially to those who are affected by the natural disasters in the United States and other parts of the world," Benedict said in his Sunday address, outside his residence near Rome.

"May God grant them consolation and strength in their trials."

Hurricane Rita ploughed into the Gulf Coast on Saturday, causing widespread damage but less harm than initially feared.

It renewed flooding in the now largely deserted city of New Orleans, gutted by Hurricane Katrina earlier this month.